Electrical connectors are known for terminating a coaxial cable so that the cable can be connected to other connecting devices, such as the terminals of a complementary mating connector, the circuit traces on a printed circuit board and the like. As is known, a typical coaxial cable includes a center conductive core or conductor surrounded by an insulating or dielectric sheath. A conductive shield surrounds the insulating sheath and typically is a metal braid. The shielding braid is surrounded by an outer dielectric tubular cover of the cable.
Various problems continue to be encountered when terminating coaxial cables in a connector, and many of those problems center around the extremely small size of the cables. For instance, the conductive core or conductor of a radio frequency coaxial cable may be very small in diameter. Not only must the conductor of the cable be connected to a signal terminal of the connector, but the shielding braid of the cable must be connected or otherwise engaged with a shell or ground terminal of the connector. Such coaxial cable connectors are quite complex to manufacture and are especially difficult to assemble and terminate to the cable, particularly by hand termination. It also is difficult to maintain proper positioning and spacing of the terminals within the connector, itself to ensure a consistent impedance throughout the connector. The present invention is directed to solving these various problems by providing a very efficient coaxial cable connector which is very easy to assemble and terminate.